Arguing By Yourself
by Senashenta
Summary: Senashenta cavorts with her characters. All of them. In one room. At one time. Oh, and a Frodo Baggins bobblehead. Gods.


**Disclaimer:** Um… don't own Valdemar and related concepts (thankies to Mercedes Lackey for all that), but I believe all the characters in this are mine (or are co-owned with Fireblade, actually... ^^;;) 

**Notes:** Randomness from a Writer's Blocked Brain. Though I happen to know I'm not the only one who writes these little jaunts with original characters. (Not that it makes the entire phenomenon more _sane_, mind you…)

**Arguing By Yourself**

**A One-Shot (Sort-Of) Valdemar Fanfiction.**** Sort Of…**

_:Can__ I ask you a question?:    _

The mindvoice, though familiar to me, was _far_ from being recognizable by anyone else. Mostly because She Who Had Spoken, despite her tendency to ramble, had never been actually _audible_ to anyone besides myself.

When I didn't respond right away, crystal eyes narrowed in annoyance and the one and not-quite only winged Companion Seraphim, who was (of course) reincarnated from the legendary Windrider, snorted. _:Bloody__ Hells! You know, you-:_

_:Calmly, Sera'.:_ Another Companion interrupted before the Winged One could begin shouting – as much as one _can_ shout in mindspeech – or go into a tirade, which was something no one wanted. _:Miss__ Sena is quite busy right now, which is why she isn't talking.: A pause, then; __:I think.:_

"Thank you, Teth'." I muttered absently, and then continued staring blankly at my Frodo Baggins bobble-head, which was nodding at me while I contemplated various things. Tethys, the Companion whom had come to my aid, sighed and shook her head, then went back to a conversation she had been having her Chosen about their mutual dislike of cold weather.

Next to me, a bubbly brown-haired girl was seated cross-legged on the bed, her eyes pinned on Frodo too, as she attempted to figure out what was so interesting about a doll with an oversized cranium, and another girl with long black hair was poking through the collection of Mercedes Lackey's Velgarth books that lined the head of my bed in chronological order.

Sera' had gone back to glaring at me silently, which she had actually been doing for nearly thirty minutes, and which I was effectively ignoring. Meanwhile, Celeste was sitting on the floor with two boys – Toby and Dragan – and playing an intense game of Survivor, while a couple of Companion mares (namely Nova and Cheyne) watched with half-hearted interest.

On the sidelines, Gabriel Maxwell and Dennett Brian were looking rather dejected while Niressa and Meriol chortled at their expense, as they had already been voted out of the game, and Keahi Domanshe was threatening to torch Dragan for getting her "kicked off the island" after only a couple of rounds.

"Seriously," Mink said after another moment of Frodo bopping to non-existent music, "what's go great about this thing?"

"It's kind of creepy." Taiyalyn agreed, and from where he was leaning against the wall, Shadowshade gave a harsh laugh, which Lale echoed in a caw and a quick ruffling of his feathers.

I shrugged. "Dunno."

_:Maybe__ you could give us more than monosyllabic responses?: Lyntar suggested helpfully. _

_:Ooh__. Big words.: Avalbane snickered, only to receive a glare from the other stallion._

"Now, if it was a _Legolas bobble-head," Mink continued, giggling, "__then it would be interesting!"_

Dori Atwater stared at her. "Why on Earth would you want to ruin Orlando Bloom's general adorableness by super-sizing his head?"

"That's not the point," another girl in Trainee Grays, Samara, told her brightly.

"Anything with Legolas can't be bad!" Mink added.

"_Exactly_!" The two of them chorused together, along with Kitty Namyr, Sarine Trellis and the normally quiet Trea Delaney. Nearby, several white not-horses by the names of Uriana, Aristides, Daveigh, Hiroli and Laksha looked around and generally pretended not to know any of them.

Taiyalyn, who had picked a random book from the shelves and was now seemingly engrossed in _By The Sword, looked up from the text long enough to put in her own two cents; "you're all insane."_

And a nicker from Uriel could be taken as agreement to that.

The entire thing had gone right by me, as I was still watching my bobble-head bop and hoping that the magic of the plastic One Ring that little deformed Frodo Baggins was holding would somehow help me get past the awful Writer's Block that had pounced on the unexpectedly, leaving me prone to Motivational Poking from reviewers.

"Personally," commented Kenna, who was watching Morgan see how many of my books he could balance on his head without having them teeter and fall, "I don't see what you lot find so great about him."

This earned him a scathing look from most of the female presence in the room, and he wisely shut up, but Jaella still chucked a pencil at him, which bounced off and struck Morgan between the eyes. The bay-haired boy yelped, faltered, and went down with a crash, landing on Kenna on the way, and ending up in a heap of books on the ground with his lifebonded.

_:What__ have I told you about touching other people's things?: Harlan sighed. __:This_ always happens.:__

_:You__ certainly are a stick in the mud today,: Nova commented off hand._

_:Yes__, well,: he looked pointedly at me. _:I___ tire of loafing around the Healer's Sanctuary, if you get my meaning.:_

I blinked at him, finally taking my eyes away from the action-figure that continued to bobble from on top of my television set. Mink, on the other hand, had been drawn back into the hypnotic nodding and was staring at it again, despite Taiyalyn rolling her eyes before returning to the book.

"You get played in RPG's all the time, right? Besides, I can't help it, Harlan." I told him. "I happen to have quite a few stories to work on, and yours just got updated recently."

_:Which reminds me!:_ Sera' snapped, butting in again, _:when the hell are you planning on working with Celeste and me again? Last thing anyone heard, we were out of Karse but Celeste was calling herself Mia! They probably all wonder if I Chose someone with schizophrenia or something!:_

"I doubt that." Kitty assured her. "Though maybe multiple personality disorder."

The Companion gave her a dry look, and one of Kitty's ears flicked nervously. About that time, Daveigh decided it was time she take a step closer to the cat-girl changeling that was her Chosen, and Sera' turned her attention back toward me.

_:What's__ the problem?! That's what I want to know!:_

I regarded her silently for a long moment, then; "I don't like you."

Sera' sputtered. _:What_-?!:__

A shrug, and I swung my legs out over the edge of the bed, my gaze flicking momentarily to Morgan, who was replacing my books on the shelves under Dori's watchful eyes. "That's the big problem, I guess."

_:You__ don't like __her?: Nitesh asked incredulously. He had been eyeing my pet rock, but knew better than to try to pilfer it._

I nodded. "A couple of weeks ago, I just had this sudden epiphany and realized that I don't really like Sera' anymore. I actually don't really like that particular story anymore, either, which is why it's been so hard to force another chapter out."

"That sounds painful." Herald-Mage Neneya said, looking up from my aquarium, where she had been quite contentedly watching the goldfish along with Yeo. "For you _and the people in that story."_

"It probably is." I agreed, poking at Mink as she continued to stare at Frodo.

"It also," Taytha Shadowflame spoke up from the corner shadows, "has something to do with you not being in a particularly depressed state lately. Didn't you start Sera's story when you were upset about something?"

"Yeah, but I can't remember what." I had given Mink up for lost and left her to the eternal shaking of a plastic hobbit. "And you're probably right. Angel Wings is far too angsty for my liking right now."

Shadowshade was tapping a finger against his bicep in annoyance, and his eyes narrowed, "oh? And what about _me_, hm? You left me with that _creature_ who calls herself a Companion and haven't dealt with anything since then."

_:You__ love me and you know it.: Cassandra put in._

And Lale clacked his beak contentedly. _:Good__ Cassa! Shadowshade stubborn!:_

The tayledras youngster scowled, and all those close to him at that point seemed to edge away a bit. They were probably worried that he might hurt them, as his temperament was less than stellar and he was prone to angry fits that bordered on violent. I ignored him, though – if he did anything to me, then his story would _never be finished._

"You know," Mink said vaguely, "this thing is kind of hypnotic…"

Taiyalyn made an exasperated noise, and Samara giggled before pointing to my Legolas action figure, which was pinned – box and all – to my wall. "Staring at this would be a lot more fun, Mink."

"We're not back to _this_ again, are we?" Kenna wailed.

Morgan patted his back with a grin. "Poor Kenna. Surrounded by Legolas-worshippers."

The Look he received for his joke was less than loving.

"Well, you should all consider yourselves lucky." Trea announced suddenly, "Laksha and I haven't even made it into _any_ stories yet."

_:That__ is_ true.:_ Avalbane conceded. _

_:Why do you care?:_ Edana demanded, red eyes flashing in exactly the same way Keahi's currently were, since the girl was still growling under her breath in Dragan's direction. _:She's_ been working on _your _story a lot lately! She wrote her first chapter of Come The Dawn and _still __isn't done her next one!:_

"I'd be happy, Edana." Taytha told the mare, "you've got _two_ authors."

"Besides," I said, with a wave of my hand in her direction, "I'm not Writers Blocked with you guys from CTD, I just haven't had time to finish the new chapter, because I've been working a lot lately."

"Excuses, excuses." Toby chuckled, then ducked when I flung a stuffed bear in his direction.

"And as for you, Trea." My attention turned to the newest member of our little group and her Companion, and she gave me a nervous smile. Laksha, for his part was sizing me up. He had yet to learn of my Omnipotent Writer's Powers, obviously. "You'll get a story eventually, but you're getting lots of action in the Companion's Choice RP already, so quit your belly aching."

"Belly aching?" Dragan muttered, "who says that anymore?"

_:Sena__, obviously.:_ Cheyne sighed, then eyed Neneya and Yeo. _:I wish you two wouldn't stand so close to that fish tank…:_

The two aforementioned looked confused for a moment, and Dragan said, "Cheyne is an aquaphiliac."

"Aquaphiliac?" Gabriel wondered. "Is that even a word?"

The other boy shrugged, then rolled the dice. His little raft landed on a picture of a person swimming. "Damn." He groaned. "Another challenge…"

_:Why__ does the little human icon have to be swimming__?: Cheyne demanded._

"I don't think even _I_ mind water as much as her, and I'm part cat." Kitty confided in Jaella, who nodded in agreement.

"You know," I spoke up again, and Kitty's tail twitched, her ears flicking forward as I talked to her, "the whole cats-not-liking-water thing is a little over-exaggerated. _My_ cat-" I pointed to Neko, who was curled up in "his" cardboard box and fast asleep, "-doesn't mind water. In fact, he's more well-behaved when I bath him than most dogs I've had."

"_Kitten_!" Samara squealed happily, bouncing over and plucking the confused tabby from his makeshift bed. "He's so cute!"

I stared, and Neko looked less than sure of what to do until Trea gave a half-laugh and removed him from Samara's grip of death. "You're pretty excitable, aren't you Samara?"

_:That's__ an understatement.: Aristides sighed in an over-burdoned way._

_:Everyone has their days,:_ Laksha reminded him, _:and you should be flattered – I think I recall that Samara is actually based on Sena herself.:_

The other stallion blinked. _:Um__, really?:_

I nodded energetically. "Most of the time. I'm a ball of hyperactive giggles."

_:It's__ scary.: The disembodied mindvoice that is my Companion-Muse, Sterling, commented. He had been hereto absent, but I had figured he would pop in to add his two cents eventually. _:She___ could be the poster-child for ADD.:_

"Pfft." I snorted. "You're just no fun."

_:And__ I plan on staying that way.: Sterling informed me. _:Now___ did you need me or not?:_

And then I remembered.

The only time Sterling willingly appeared in my head is when I was ready to write something, and silence befell the room as the various characters came to the same realization.

_:Perhaps__ we should go?: Alera suggested, and his sister nodded in agreement, already vanishing out the door. One by one, they began to file out after her, until I'm left with just Mink, who was still staring at the Frodo bobble-head), Taiyalyn, who was lost in Kerowyn's Tale, and Morgan, who had discovered my Woverine toy with Claw-Chopping Action (from KFC) and was happily playing with him._

Kenna's head poked back around the corner and he rolled his eyes. "Morgan, come on!"

"Just a sec'!"

Taiyalyn finally looked up and seemed surprised. "Oh. I guess we're off, then." She stood gracefully, and then held up the book. "Can I borrow this? I'll bring it back next time I'm here."

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Thanks," she smiled and headed for the exit, then paused and went back to retrieve Mink, dragging the other girl out by the arm, despite her complaints and halfhearted struggles. Frodo still had a hold on her, I supposed. "See you later."

I waved vaguely, already reaching for a pencil and a notebook. "Morgan, you have to go, too."

He seemed disappointed, and gestured toward the Wolverine toy. "Can I take this with me?"

I was about to respond, by Kenna interrupted with a resounding; "no!"

"Guess not." I told him.

"But Taiyalyn got to borrow something!" Morgan complained, even as Kenna was forcing him out the door, "this is unfair! How come I can't take it with me? It's just a toy, Kenna, what harm could it…"

The door shut behind them and the mirror on the back of it reflected the amused expression I was wearing. I shook me head and scribbled some circles on my paper to get my pen ready, looking around the room as I did so.

_:So__ are we set to go?: Sterling asked._

"Sure thing." I responded, as my cat wandered over to curl up beside me. "You know…"

I trailed off, and Sterling prompted; _:you__ know-?:_

I chuckled. "I never realize just how small this room is until they've all been in here at once."

Sterling's response was inarticulate, but I could tell he agreed.

It was also probably the reason he had neglected to show up in person that time, too… 


End file.
